YAKUSHI: SLITTERHEAD
SlitterHead is a new horror project from the creators of Forbidden Siren and Silent Hill.
The game was released in November 2024 on PC, PS4, PS5, and Xbox X\S.
This article contains all the basic information about "SlitterHead". Here I will talk about the gameplay and interesting features of the game, about the story and characters, about the authors, as well as about references to "Silent Hill" and "Siren".
And in the next article you can read a detailed review of the game.
Game Creators
Keiichiro Toyama
The creative director and main scenario writer is Keiichiro Toyama - the creator of Silent Hill, Forbidden Siren, and Gravity Rush. In 2020, he left Sony and founded his own small indie studio, "Bokeh Game Studio".
Junya Okura
The second director of the game is Junya Okura. He worked at Sony along with Toyama - and served as a planner and game designer on all parts of Forbidden Siren and Gravity Rush.
Akira Yamaoka
The music will be composed by Akira Yamaoka. Previously, they worked together with Keiichiro Toyama on Silent Hill 1. It's nice to see the members of "Team Silent" unite again after 25 years.
Keisuke Yoneyama
The designs for the huge boss-monsters were created by Keisuke Yoneyama - a Japanese 3D sculptor who specializes in creating figurines of creepy creatures in "Lovecraftian" and "Gigerian" style.
Miki Takahashi
Other monsters for the game were designed by Miki Takahashi. She previously created designs for Shibito and other creatures from Forbidden Siren.
Tatsuya Yoshikawa
The character designs are handled by Tatsuya Yoshikawa. He created characters for Gravity Rush 2, Devil May Cry 4 and 5, Breath of Fire 3 and 4, and did concept art for the classic horror game Haunting Ground.
Kazunobu Sato
The project will be produced by Kazunobu Sato. He worked with Toyama on Forbidden Siren (Sato was the character designer on the first two games), and also produced the game "The Last Guardian".
Story and Setting
The story of "SlitterHead" is set in the early 1990s in the fictional city of "Kowlong" (which is inspired by the famous Kowloon walled city).
One day, strange events began to happen here. All over the city, the police are discovering mutilated corpses; they look as if someone was gnawing out the entire contents of their skulls from the inside.
In addition, bloodthirsty monsters appear in the city. People call these creatures "Yakushi". Rumor has it that these monsters live right inside the human head. They enter the victim's brain and begin to control its body.
And then they walk around the town in this body and pretend to be ordinary citizens. But at any moment, a terrible monster can suddenly crawl out of the head of its victim - and attack those around him.
Will we be able to unravel the secrets of this city and understand the true nature of "Yakushi"?
A game where anyone
might be a Monster
One of the most interesting features of SlitterHead is that here anyone can actually be a creepy monster.
And this idea is implemented not only through the story - but also through the gameplay.
In terms of implementation, it will be similar to the Japanese game "GERMS", which was featured in our article about the "weirdest horror games".
NPC characters will walk around the city - and some of them may turn out to be monsters who are only pretending to be humans. In order not to become easy prey for them, we will have to distinguish real people from "Yakushi".
But how can we find the monster disguised as an ordinary citizen? There are two ways to do this:
1) When approaching the monster, a purple aura appears on the screen and a strange sound is heard. When this sound gets louder, it means the monster is very close (this is reminiscent of the radio in Silent Hill).
2) Sometimes we can see the world through the eyes of the monster for a few seconds (this is very similar to the "sight-jack" system from Forbidden Siren). Thanks to these short visions, we can figure out where the monster is currently standing.
Body Possession System
Another unusual idea is body possession and the transmigration of souls.
The main character in SlitterHead is not entirely human. In fact, we play as a flying clot of energy, reminiscent of a human soul floating in the air.
This creature remembers nothing about itself and does not know how it ended up in this world.
It has no body. But it has a special ability - this clot of energy can inhabit any person and gain control over his consciousness. Thus, we can inhabit the bodies of NPC characters and control them.
This idea of a disembodied spirit possessing other people's bodies is very similar to the classic Japanese game "RELICS". In one interview, Keiichiro Toyama mentioned that he played Relics on his computer Sharp X1 when he was young. So most likely, this game had some influence on SlitterHead.
Moral Choices
The system of possessing other people's bodies also brings many moral dilemmas into the game. After all, an ordinary person can die because we are using his body to fight monsters.
And if there is a risk of death, what will we do? Will we try to save a person’s life? Or will we just use his body as consumable material and then quickly move into a new body?
And what will you do if you accidentally injure an ordinary citizen during a fight with monsters? While he is lying on the ground and bleeding, will you take a risk and try to help him? Or will you concentrate on the fight and leave him to die?
You can even kill any resident of the city you don’t like. Or possess somebody, and then make the poor guy jump off the roof.
The game will have many such creepy "moral choices”. And they will be an important part of the gameplay.
Also, your behavior in the game (and the number of people who died because of you) will affect the ending of the story.
Changing the Past
Like Forbidden Siren, the game is divided into several episodes that take place in different chronological order.
We will have the opportunity to replay moments from the past, thus changing some events and the fates of characters.
For example, during one of the episodes, we will see how a monster kills a defenseless girl. And during the second playthrough of this episode, it will be possible to prevent the murder and save her. And this will greatly affect the further development of the story.
However, changing the past can lead to unexpected consequences in the future. And attempts to save someone can sometimes lead to a much greater tragedy. After all, the road to Hell is paved with good intentions.
Playable Characters
There are many playable characters in "SlitterHead". They can be divided into two types:
1) The first type is random ordinary people. They are very weak against monsters and do not play an important role in the story. During the game, you will be able to possess the bodies of about 100 of these ordinary citizens.
2) And the second type is special characters that will play a more important role in the plot. There are eight such characters in the game. They are stronger in battle and can use "blood weapons", which are a manifestation of various images from their subconscious.
The cast of main characters in the game is very unusual - these are people from different social strata, different ages, and with very different worldviews. Among the characters here you can meet a doctor, a prostitute, a schoolboy, and even an 80-years-old woman.
You can read more about all the characters in this article:
Gameplay and combat system
The game will be more action-oriented than Silent Hill and Forbidden Siren.
The combat system in SlitterHead is reminiscent of Devil May Cry. The main emphasis is on melee weapons. However, some characters can also use firearms and long-range attacks. Each character has his own skills, and the gameplay style will vary when playing as different heroes.
The unique feature of the combat system is that right during the battle we can move into the body of any other person nearby. This allows us to come up with all sorts of unusual tactics to defeat monsters. And also helps to escape from the monsters when you need to get away.
However, the gameplay will not consist only of battles with monsters. In fact, battles in the game are rare - and most of time will be devoted to exploring locations and wandering around the mysterious city of Kowlong.
During these wanderings, we will be able to find the "lost memories" of the main character scattered around the city. Collecting these small pieces of information, we will gradually begin to understand who our disembodied spirit really is.
Also, in some moments of the game there will be stealth elements similar to Forbidden Siren. But there are not many such moments, and the stealth mechanics here is not as hardcore as in "Siren".
SlitterHead will have 4 difficulty levels to choose from: "Easy", "Normal", "Hard", and "Nightmare". So any player can choose the difficulty to their taste. And the difficulty levels can be switched at any time during the game.
References to
Silent Hill and Forbidden Siren
The game has many references to Keiichiro Toyama's previous projects. But don’t expect SlitterHead to be a clone of Silent Hill or Siren.
Here are some interesting references that can be noticed at the moment:
1) The name of the game is abbreviated as "SH".
2) The game begins with the fact that our first character is attacked by a monster in a dark alley and gets killed by it (it is impossible to defeat the monster in the alley, just like in SH1).
3) The idea of parasitic monsters controlling someone else's body was present in Silent Hill 1 (Cybil in the carousel scene was possessed by a parasite that entered her body).
4) The idea of alien creatures pretending to be humans was featured in Forbidden Siren 2 (these creatures were called "simulacra”).
5) The idea of controlling other people’s bodies was also present in Forbidden Siren 2 (the girl named Ikuko Kifune had a special gift - she could control the bodies of enemies for a few seconds with the power of her mind).
6) The motorcyclist character with a sword and a sawn-off shotgun is most likely inspired by the hero Howard Wright from Siren Blood Curse (he was also a motorcyclist and used a sword and a shotgun as weapons).
7) Among the characters in the game there is a nurse named Lisa.
8) Early concept art for the game showed a horned demon with wings, very similar to the final boss from SH1.
We have already discussed most of these references in the previous article - so you can read all the details there.
SlitterHead and Gantz
In an interview, Keiichiro Toyama noted that the Japanese manga "GANTZ" was one of the important inspirations for his new game. This is a pleasant surprise for me, because I also love Gantz.
SlitterHead has some similar vibes and a similar level of violence. And much like Gantz, the story will be about ordinary people who suddenly receive special abilities - and find themselves forced to risk their lives by participating in battles with strange monsters.
It's also quite interesting that one of the characters in the "Gantz" manga was a stray dog. And here, a dog will also be among the playable characters.
By the way, Toyama also mentioned "Parasyte" and "Tokyo Ghoul" as his other sources of inspiration among manga. So fans of these things should probably check out SlitterHead too.
Review of the Game
We also have a comprehensive review of "SlitterHead".
There I will analyze in detail all the good points and flaws of the game. And will tell you about my impressions of the gameplay, story, music, and atmosphere.
>> SlitterHead Review <<
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Author of the article: SilentPyramid
Publication date: 08.08.2024
Article update: 27.11.2024
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